As pet owners become more aware of the importance of dental health in their pets, the marketplace has become inundated with dental chew products for both cats and dogs. If you choose the correct product for your pet, these products can help maintain a healthy mouth; if you choose the wrong product, your pet could develop more serious dental problems or other health issues.
For any pet, the correct product is one that the pet will use properly. If the product is a kibbled diet that is specifically formulated for tartar control, it will only work if your pet chews it ‘as directed’. These diets are usually shaped in such a way that they will scrape plaque and soft tartar off of the teeth while they are being crunched in the mouth. A kibble that is swallowed whole will not do anything to remove tartar!
Both cats and dogs may benefit from the use of chew toys and/or dental chews, both to exercise the gums and jaws, and to help maintain cleaner teeth. Most chew products come in different sizes, geared towards the size of the pet, or even the age of the pet. When you choose one of these products, purchase the correct size – although the product should be large enough to encourage your pet to chew it rather than swallow it, keep in mind that bigger is not necessarily better. But you should never leave your pet unsupervised with a new chew toy – if he or she swallows large pieces of it, or swallows the last remnant in a whole chunk, it may cause choking or an intestinal obstruction. You would be safer and wiser to take away a small remnant of a chew treat and replace it with a fresh new one.
When choosing an appropriate chew treat, don’t forget to consider the hardness of the treat. Excessively hard items, especially things like cow hooves, large cooked bones, or hard nylon treats, can be problematic. Almost every veterinarian has seen patients that have suffered a tooth fracture or other tooth injury as a result of chewing on a hard object. Ideally, the item you choose should become softer as it is chewed.
The gold standard for maintaining your pet’s dental health remains regular dental cleaning coupled with a good home care program that involves daily tooth brushing. However, the properly selected diet and dental treats can go a long way towards helping your pet keep all of its teeth for life.
